Tenth International Conference on Religion & Spirituality in Society

Abstract

Various rituals recognize Mami Water’s power to give countless gifts or blessings, but in the same vein require that the devotees give gifts to others as well as receive them for themselves. Nonetheless, the fears and aspirations of the devotees who basically identify as individuals with curly hair–dada–are equally identified in the course of the sound and incantations ascribed to Mami Water and other divinities. This paper focuses on the creation of spirit possession in Mami Water worship through the mediating powers of special individuals with dada hair styles who evidently are the members of Igbe cult – a collective ritual of group of devotees who worship the tutelary spirits. Sacred sound is a novel, ground breaking study in the area of religious scholarship, and it has been shown to be intrinsically important in aiding spirit invocation and possession in religious communication of any kind as it pertains to Igbo tradition and culture through the mediating use of some indigenous instruments. Sacred sound is an ingredient or essential medium in mediating with God(s), ancestor veneration and worship in Igbe cult religion. This study explores how this ritual emerges as a manifestation of the group’s intrinsic power of accomplishment, adaptation, and invention. Moving through ritual spaces and will, these mediums or devotees utilize their independent and ritual performative power in order to actively develop their religious practices through the mediation of their dada hair styles.